Retired Marine Corps Major General (and former astronaut & space shuttle pilot) Charles Bolden revealed some rather unusual instructions he received from President Obama upon being tapped as his NASA Administrator…it does make one wonder though: exactly where is the “outreach” to Nations like Israel, Britain and others who are actually our “allies”, and some of whom fight shoulder to shoulder with us on the battlefield?

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a recent interview that his “foremost” mission as the head of America’s space exploration agency is to improve relations with the Muslim world.

Though international diplomacy would seem well outside NASA’s orbit, Bolden said in an interview with Al Jazeera that strengthening those ties was among the top tasks President Obama assigned him. He said better interaction with the Muslim world would ultimately advance space travel.

“When I became the NASA administrator — or before I became the NASA administrator — he charged me with three things. One was he wanted me to help re-inspire children to want to get into science and math, he wanted me to expand our international relationships, and third, and perhaps foremost, he wanted me to find a way to reach out to the Muslim world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good about their historic contribution to science … and math and engineering,” Bolden said in the interview.

The NASA administrator was in the Middle East last month marking the one-year anniversary since Obama delivered an address to Muslim nations in Cairo. Bolden spoke in June at the American University in Cairo — in his interview with Al Jazeera, he described space travel as an international collaboration of which Muslim nations must be a part.

“It is a matter of trying to reach out and get the best of all worlds, if you will, and there is much to be gained by drawing in the contributions that are possible from the Muslim (nations),” he said. He held up the International Space Station as a model, praising the contributions there from the Russians and the Chinese.

However, Bolden denied the suggestion that he was on a diplomatic mission — in a distinctly non-diplomatic role.

“Not at all. It’s not a diplomatic anything,” he said.

He said the United States is not going to travel beyond low-Earth orbit on its own and that no country is going to make it to Mars without international help.

Bolden has faced criticism this year for overseeing the cancellation of the agency’s Constellation program, which was building new rockets and spaceships capable of returning astronauts to the moon. Stressing the importance of international cooperation in future missions, Bolden told Al Jazeera that the moon, Mars and asteroids are still planned destinations for NASA.

i saw this this morning………….who gives a SHIT about our “relations” with muslims? please! we have much much BIGGER problems in today’s world.
how about JOBS?

we hear all the time that muslims are largely peaceful people. if they really ARE then they aren’t TRUE muslims…………their “bible” calls for jihad & the extermination of anyone who ISN’T muslim……….thus making them WARmongers by their religion.

it’s just like someone “claiming” to be a christian, but yet “believeing” in evolution, or abortion.

what a bunch of BALONEY this is………can’t WAIT for that JOKE in the oval office to be HISTORY.

Now I can’t speak for Princess, but I believe that her “Christian” comment was directed at President Obama – he often professes to be one, but his actions & spoken words make one question his sincerity. He has spoken out strongly in favor of abortion, which most religions frown upon. During the campaign he spoke to representatives of Planned Parenthood and stated that if he would raise his daughters to know the difference between right & wrong but if one of them made a mistake, he did not want to see them “punished with a baby”.

Most people, especially Christians view children as a blessing from God or whatever deity they pray to, and not as “punishment” for some kind of freewill based decision they have made or action they have taken.

My comment wasn’t so much about the abortion issue, but more about the evolution issue, which princess and I have argued about on many occasions. MY religion states that we can believe in evolution as long as we realize that GOD was the creator of all of it. Princess contends that this is not possible and that I am a heathen for my beliefs. Even though I have directed her to websites concerning my religions stand on this issue, she says it’s not true. That’s why I said opinions are like assholes, everyone has one. (A direct quote from her in reference to a statement by polarbear a few weeks ago.)

“The Bible is very narrow and specific on this subject”.
Then why aren’t you wandering the Israli desert in a long robe and sandals? the Bible certainly doesn’t mention modern conveniences, but you use them.
Like I said, your interpretation of the Bible, my interpretation and millions of other people’s interpretations, are different than yours. If you want to believe in the specifity of the Bible than start trudging the desert, as an unclean person every month during your cycle, and don’t eat any pork.

And that’s opinion, not FACT.
Wrong.
The basic principles are fact, but religions have been interpreting the Bible for thousands of years and will continue to do so till the end of time. Just because you’re a Fundamentalist, and take every word as it’s literal meaning, does not mean you are right and everyone else is wrong.

why are we wasting ANY time or money on this “relationship’ with these people? who gives a SHIT?

Uhhhh, because we share our home with “these people”. Also we could spend much less time and much less money by trying to form a relationship with “these people” than by trying to blow up “these people”.

ya, you have criticized my RELIGION by calling me a “fundamentalist”….as if that’s some dirty word (like racist, homophobe, etc.) if being a “fundamentalist” means standing on the word of GOD, every single WORD, then YES I AM A FUNDAMENTALIST………..

but i digress, again i remind YOU that “religion” is MAN…………….FAITH is GOD.

and frankly, i will never understand how one can “believe” one part of GOD’S word and not the other.

I didn’t know calling you a Fundamentalist was considered a criticism. If that’s what you are, then it’s merely a title, a description of your beliefs. And frankly, I don’t understand why that would be considered a criticism.